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Descent
The second episode opens with Bruce being summoned by Hawkins to the briefing room. On arriving he is greeted by The commander and another man with blue hair and a clearly military attitude. He introduces himself as Lee Agar. With introductions over and the promise that one more would be joining them, they began filling in Bruce on the plan of attack. The Midnight Fenrir were based in a collection of hills within the desert. They would attack at night using the main force as a diversion while a small team consisting of Bruce's team, the as yet unknown person and Lee went in from behind. The objective was to capture their leader Garret Schmiter and use him to force a surrender. At this point the final person entered revealing himself to be Hugh Gall who was one of Bruce's old squad mates. And the only one still alive. After Bruce recovered from seeing what may as well have been a ghost the two exchanged pleasantries, Hugh explaining how he survived, and made their way back to the hanger as the briefing had been concluded. Upon their arrival, they met with the squad, Hugh and Lee introducing themselves and pointing out their mobile suits, the team grasping the importance of the operation when Lee Pointed to his mobile suit. This was a crucial mission if the higher ups sent one of those for this. Their conversation was cut short by a highly obnoxious voice booming over the intercom. It introduced itself as Noct Gadis and proceeded to deliver a long and self praising speech about the upcoming operation. He was then replaced with Hawkins who delivered something a little more inspirational. And with that everyone was sent to their stations for departure, Bruce reminding the team about Makoto. Landing the Medea a ways off, the team made their way to their insertion point on foot (in their mobile suits). Lee had to remain behind as the main weapon on his mobile suit was having some issues. The Midnight Fenrirs base was located inside a circular mounttain surrounded by valleys and gorges. Navigating these gorges proved difficult but eventually the team (and Hugh in his GM Striker) found the back way into the base. As soon as the started their approach they were fire upon. After taking cover they were hailed by the leader who was none other than Garret Schmiter. He had apparently predicted this manouver and suggested they retreat. Their odds were not helped when several more mobile suits came out of the base. Soon they were facing a slew of mobile suits ranging from Zakus and Zaku Snipers to Goufs and even some Gouf Customs led by Garret in his custom Gelgoog Unit. The fighting was getting more desperate made worse by the hidden explosives that went off damaging some of the teams suits and sealing off their only exit. By this point, Makoto was dueling a Gouf while being fired upon, Maya was desperatly trying to hold the teams suits together with her sealant launcher, Bruce had engaged Garret one on one and was shocked at his skill and Hazuma was trying to cut down the number of enemies at a range while soaking up shots for the others. Things seemed to get worse when 3 more squads appeared from the base. And were promptly blown up by the sheer fire power of Lee's Mudrock Gundam. With the newly added firepower afforded by Lee the team was able to start pushing forward taking out a good two thirds of the opposing force. As Bruce was about to offer the chance of surrender however, the battle took another turn for the worse. A massive hatch on the top of the hill opened and out of it came a huge looming shape. Most had no clue what it was but could guess it was truly powerful. Bruce and Hugh however knew full well what it was having witnessed its firepower up close before and their blood ran cold at the sight. They had no idea how there was another one but hovering in front of them, was the unmistakable shape of the Apsarus 3. Before anyone could even say anything the Apsarus fired several beams towards them. Everyone managed to get out of the way, but were shocked at the damage that was left behind where they originally stood. Bruce having regained his composure charged the Apsarus but was blasted by a massive beam weapon away from the battlefield, but to the others it looked like he had been vaporized on the spot. The fighting continued everyone struggling to survive their suits barely holding together and fast running out of ammo. Meanwhile a ways away, Bruce woke up. The Thanatos was deactivated. He had no idea how it had survived and didn't at that point particularly care. He tried moving the Thanatos but it was totally unresponsive. The only function systems were the camera so he could see what his team were going through, and the radio.....audio only allowing him to hear their panic and Maya desperately calling his name but being unable to answer. Back on the battlefield, Makoto had decided he wanted vengeance on the Apsarus. So boosting up one of the cliffs, twisting in midair and flying forward, he once again overclocked his unit and, landing on the "face" of the monster, unleashed a flurry of blows from Suzukas tonfas. It worked. The monster lurched from the damaged but not before blowing Makotos now weakened limbs off and sending it plummeting to the ground and incapacitating Hughs GM Striker before it retreated. Back with Bruce, by this point he had pulled out a pistol and by this point was pounding at the glass trying to get the Palerider to open but then he stopped, frozen. What he saw chilled him to the very core. Outside on the battlefield, Suzukas form had just landed very heavily on the ground and Hugh was just starting to climb out of his now inoperable mobile suit. He may have had a chance but for what happened next. A Gouf Custom landed infornt of him, raised its sword and brought it down on Hugh in such a brutal way one could almost see the sadism on the Goufs being. For Bruce the world stopped. One of his subordinates was down, maybe dead, his other 2 were fighting desperately just for survival at this point and the one person who seemed to have survived his curse had just been killed in a brutal fashion. He sat back in the cockpit chair. One second passed, then another and another. He did not know how long he gawked at the sight but then he cried out in anguish and as the rage descended and all he saw was red, the last thing he saw was the view screen flashing with 3 words and a deep voice dictating what was displayed. HADES System....Standby..... Back with the team, they were reeling from the brutality that had just taken place. While there were only a few suits left, they were barely in any condition to continue the fight. Even Lees mobile suit was starting to slow down due to the sheer amount of power he had had to use. The Gouf and its squad mates (zakus) turned to look at the rest of the team and focussed on the down Suzuka. Before taking even a step though, the three Zakus behind it exploded. If one were able to slow down time, they would have seen 2 being bisected by a green beam Scythe and the final one having a full clip from an assault rifle being unloaded into the cockpit. What everyone was able to see though, was a demonic figure striding through the flames its Scythe held downward and out in one hand and the spent rifle in the other. This was the Thanatos and it looked very different. Its visor glowed a malevolent crimson and its exhausts were glowing yellow from heat. The squad tried communicating with it (even Makoto who now managed to confrim he was alive) but they were ignored. It simply turned to the Gouf, which was now almost backing away in fear, and charged. Faster than one could think was possible it was in front of the one who had murdered his comrade. It brought down its Scythe through its right arm, then its left the shield putting up no resistance. The Thanatos the swiped at the legs completely sheering them off. Finally, it slashed though the cockpit. Unfinished though, it reached into the cockpit, almost like it hoped to crush the insect within personally, but thanks to the heated beam the pilot had already been incinerated and all it pulled out was ash. The team was about to celebrate this new victory, but stopped short when the Thanatos turned toward the Raphael. Before anyone could blink it charged its Scythe raised. Maya was only barely able to hold up the Raphael's now spent bazooka to block the blade by the shaft as it came down, all the while screaming for Bruce to stop. And then to everyone's surprise, relief and confusion, the Thanatos did. In fact it stopped moving all together. All system light went out, the vents returned to their normal colour and the visor went clear. For a moment nothing moved with the frozen Thanatos still posed to strike with a blade that was no longer there and the Raphael blocking the Shaft. The the radio went crazy with David screaming down the line telling them he was coming to their location and they needed to move. Before anyone could ask why, he quickly explained that the remnants had escaped via under ground tunnels, the failure being blamed on them by Noct, and they were now declared rogue. With little else to do, the still operational parts team minus Lee who had already retreated due to heavy fire on his end, grabbed the non functioning parts, loaded up onto the Medea and took off. The flight back was quiet. As soon as they arrived, the Thanatos and Suzuka cockpit was opened by the remote override afforded to engineers and their respective pilots were taken to the medical bay. The received word from David that Hawkins would need to speak to him later. About an hour passed and finally Bruce and Makoto came too. Bruce was completely oblivious to what had happened as his last memory was of the message on Thnatos' screen before it all went dark. Maya filled him in without any holding back. Needless to say she was still very shaken by the event. Unable to handle the mess of emotions she was experiencing, she left the room. In the meantime, David patched Hawkins down to the med bay. He reconfirmed what they knew. They were blamed for the failure of the mission (Thanatos going berserk and Hazuma's previous allegiance didn't help) and were now branded as rogues. He informed them that he has been investigating Noct because this is not the first time his subordinates have been blamed for failures. Thus far his investigations have led him to an man called Grave and very little else other than he is the only thing keeping Noct from being found out for incompetence and only because Noct is useful. He tells that he will do all he can his end to clear their names, but it will take a lot of time if it even happens. They understand and he says he has given David coordinates to an abandoned federation base in the desert currently run by another who has been seriously wronged by Noct in similar circumstances. A man by the name of Bork Cry. He ends the conversation by telling them to be wary of a kill team Grave has known as the Slave Wraiths. A few hours pass with the engineers managing to get the suits back in working order despite the shape they were in thanks to many spare parts. The team passed the time in their own ways trying to come to terms with what happened. Eventually though, they were brought to the hanger when David announced they were arriving. When they touched down on the remains of the bases runway, Bruce and his team exited the Medea. They were greeted by a relatively tall blond man. The man introduced himself as Bork and said they were welcome to stay here as long as they needed and could even set up their mobile suits in the hanger remains as there was more space. As he showed them to the hanger, all eyes were drawn to a single mobile suit standing deactivate at the back. When questioned, he said that it was his and he was almost finished restoring it to working order but needed some help. Ed, seeing what it was immediately volunteered his services. They were about to split up to explore the base when the ground shook and shells could be heard exploding outside the hanger. Despite being exhausted form the previous battle, the team were able to scramble their mobile suits with the exception of Thanatos which was having issues starting. As the three suits faced their opponents, they were dismayed to find a group of Zeon mobile suits ranging from Zakus and Zaku Cannons to goufs and even a pair of what Hazuma knew to be experimental Kampfer units. These were all led by a single Gouf Custom. The Gouf opened a channel declaring that they were a hunter uniti of Zeon assigned to track down and eliminate traitors. Namely in this case Hazuma. He stated that if they hand him over they would leave them alone. Having proven himself thus far as skilled pilot dedicated only to assisting his comrades, the team refused unanimously to hand Hazuma over. Thus the battle began. At first nothing of note truly happened, the team managed to eliminate some of the Zakus but couldn't gain much ground due to the constant shelling of the Zaku Cannon's bombardment. This changed when the Thanatos finally started and made its entrance engaging the leader. With the teams combined fire power, the leader was destroyed and the team hoped this would send the rest scurrying. It was not to be. Something far worse happened. Over an open channel a voice came from one of the Kampfers. A voice that was very familiar to Maya. It sneered at how weak the leader had been and was glad to be rid of him. He then displayed surprise when Maya identified him as her brother. Joe Mclain. After getting over his shock that his sister was here, he ignored her demands for answers as to what he was doing stating only that the federation was weak and he was to good for them. With that declaration the battle began anew with the Zeon forces now making more ground under the considerably better leadership. Thanatos was incapacitated when Joe wrapped several mines around it and detonated them. Things were once again looking bleak with the team still exhausted from their previous fight and now once again down a suit. That was when the tables turned once again. As Joe prepared to charge Maya, a suit darted out of the hanger moving faster than people were able to track. It charged to the Zeon back lines, firing a submachine gun into on Zaku cannon, Stabbing the second and finally bisecting the third and final one before returning just as fast to block the blow Joe was aiming at Maya, crossing its twin beam daggers to block the Kampfers fatal blow. Now with the machine having stopped temporarily, the battles participants could see clearly the form of another Gundam. The Pixie Gundam and for the rogue federation team, there could be no doubt who was piloting it. Stopping only to ask if the team was ok, Bork turned his attention back to the Kampfer he had in a stalemate. With a flash of its optics, the Gundam proceeded to unleash a lethal flurry of slashed and kicks upon its foe. It was a testament to the pilots skill and the suits armour that it got pushed far back when it really should have been destroyed by such an assault. With this the remaining team were able to mop up enough enemy suit to for force a retreat. Joe managed to get some distance, throw off, the twin bazookas on his back and detonated them giving him the advantage he needed to retreat. As he left, he heard over the comms his sister calling him a coward. To prove that his retreat was a mercy, he fired one shot that sheered off the leg of the Raphael before retreating fully. With the battle over the team regrouped back at the hanger. The engineers (after showing shock that the Susuka came back in one piece) set to work repairing the suits starting with the heavily damaged Thanatos. The team thanks Bork and agreed that they should leave the base lest they put him in danger with people actively tracking them. It was at that point that Bruce got a call from his friend at Augusta Newtype Labs. After a far too late warning about the HADES, Lucas said he had been doing some digging and now he was hiding and needed to be picked up before they could find him and kill him. He didn't give much else other than his location and the fact it involved a man named Grave before having to cut off the communication. Bruce after recovering from the shock, immediately ordered the crew to load up the Medea and ship off. After saying goodbye to Bork, they depart sending a message to Hawkins asking if he could provide any help. Our episode ends with the Medea flying into the sunset in the direction of Australia.